Contributed by Laurie Fendrich / Without any bombs exploding or even a single shot fired, the world we knew before COVID has gone “poof.” Sure, buildings are intact; trees, grass and flowers still grow; the sky is blue; people walk on streets and drive cars. What’s disappeared, for who knows how long, is the ease … read more… “What good is abstract painting now?”
Art and Film: In the zone
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, Rod Serling trademarked the creeping alteration of reality as a feature of post-Golden Age television with the advent of The Twilight Zone. Introducing the series premier in his intense nasal baritone – unique yet perpetually mimicked – Serling located the zone … read more… “Art and Film: In the zone”
In the absence of knowing
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Theodore:Art has reopened its Bushwick space with a handsome and enigmatic show that reminds me of the series of Bruno Bischofberger ads that has occupied the back cover of every issue of Artforum since April 1987. As a painting student at Mass Art, I subscribed to the magazine on and … read more… “In the absence of knowing”
Consciousness raising: Social media
Contributed by Sharon Butler / The time has come to leave Facebook and engage in online activities elsewhere. Difficult though it may seem to leave the art community that we’ve established on that platform, and the ease we feel with the software, I’ve decided to encourage a migration to Tumblr, a microblogging tool that has … read more… “Consciousness raising: Social media”
Quick study: A new day
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Here is a selection of art articles I’ve gathered from sites around the internet this week, including Painters on Painting, The New Yorker, NY Times, artnet, Hyperallergic, NPR, and Dance Theater of Harlem. At the end, look for a link to a Mother Jones article about Trump’s pathologies, and a … read more… “Quick study: A new day”
Paul Erschen: Half remembered
Contributed by Cody Tumblin / Before I start talking about Paul Erschen’s work, I’d like to talk about mud. Imagine a muggy summer afternoon near the lake and the warm stench of sticky wet mud riding off the wind. As you step down into this supremely gooey substance, there is squelching and squishing, and thick … read more… “Paul Erschen: Half remembered”
Facts on the ground: Katy Crowe and Coleen Sterritt
Contributed by Sharon Butler / In the exhibition statement for “Evenso: The Common and Curious,” a two-person exhibition at the Los Angeles Harbor College Fine Arts Gallery featuring Katy Crowe‘s paintings and Coleen Sterritt‘s objects, curator Ron Linden quoted a piece Ben Lerner wrote about Michael Palmer’s poetry for Harper’s Magazine. Back in 2018, when … read more… “Facts on the ground: Katy Crowe and Coleen Sterritt”
Covid-19: A cultural draft notice
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / The current of disgust, loathing, and anger in the liberal white consciousness has been pretty steady since Donald Trump was elected president, extinguishing a delicate consensus that the country was moving in more or less in the right direction. Of course, for people like me – white, male, late boomer/early … read more… “Covid-19: A cultural draft notice”
Conversation: Eric Wolf talks about his expansive art collection
Contributed by Patrick Neal / The painter Eric Wolf is someone I have known since we met as students at Skowhegan School of Art in 1989. At Skowhegan, working outside during all-in-one sessions, Wolf devised a style of landscape painting that was direct and minimal, using only black ink on paper, or oil on canvas … read more… “Conversation: Eric Wolf talks about his expansive art collection”
Abby Lloyd: Recipes for disaster
Contributed by Sharon Butler / When the lockdown went into effect, Abby Lloyd wanted to curate an online project, but envisioned something more personal than a bunch of jpegs, so she put together a quirky cookbook with recipes by her artist friends. “I came across a school cookbook that I made in 1998,” she told … read more… “Abby Lloyd: Recipes for disaster”